Wrapping machines have been developed for wrapping plastic film around items on a pallet to retain the items for shipping and the like. Known wrapping machines include a film dispenser mounted on an arm to rotate about the pallet and thereby wrap the items on the pallet. The film dispenser may also be mounted for vertical travel such that the film is wrapped around the items in a spiral manner. Other known wrapping machines include a rotary table upon which the pallet is placed. In this type of machine, the wrapping device is mounted to a stationary vertical structure. During the wrapping process, the table and pallet thereon are rotated, and the wrapping device travels vertically to thereby spiral wrap the items on the pallet.
Heretofore, wrapping machines have include a gripper that grips the end of the film to thereby hold the film in a proper position as it is fed from the film dispenser. Known grippers maintain the end of the film adjacent a side of the pallet and an end of the film typically has to be blown or wiped against the side of the product on the pallet at the end of the wrapping process. During the wrapping process, the gripper remains outside of the external vertical periphery of the pallet.
A wrapping machine is desired making improvements on the aforementioned known wrapping machines.